Police on Wednesday apprehended a Dutchman suspected of killing his Thai wife at their Nakhon Pathom home over her frequent online chats after he fled to Cambodia.
Matthew Mannen, 40, was arrested by a team of police and soldiers at Apex Hotel in the Cambodian province of Koh Kong. He was about to take a chartered bus to Cambodia's Kampong Som province to flee to Vietnam when officials turned up with an arrest warrant, Post Today Online quoted Pol Col JaruakChotika, chief of Khlong Yai police in Trat province, as saying.
Mr Mannen left a house in Nakhon Pathom’s Sam Phran district on Sunday morning in a pickup truck. Two days later his wife Pornpan Kaewkok-klang, 35, was found dead on the second floor with head injuries and a damaged computer tablet near her body.
An investigation found Mr Mannen went to Cambodia via the Haad Lek checkpoint in Khlong Yai district of Trat province on Tuesday evening. Military police stationed in Koh Kong helped locate the suspect, Pol Col Jaruak said.
Speaking through an interpreter at Khlong Yai police station, Mr Mannen allegedly confessed to killing Pornpan in a fit of jealous rage after he told her to stop chatting with a male friend on Facebook, but she ignored his request.
The suspect said he took away a computer tablet from Pornpan and a fierce argument ensued. His wife died after he pushed her and her head struck the edge of a wardrobe. He denied striking her with the tablet.
Police say they are not convinced by his statement as the victim had sustained serious facial and head injuries and her torso had bruises, indicating that she was assaulted violently, Pol Col Jaruak said.